Supermarkets and other fruit sellers often sell fruit that isn't ripe. There are several reasons for this. For one, fruit sellers are concerned that their fruit inventory will rot on the shelf or in storage before they can sell it. Additionally, fruit transporters are concerned that ripe fruit will bruise or damage during transport. Consequently, supermarkets and other fruit retailers purchase and receive unripe fruit to avoid damage during shipment and to minimize spoilage before the fruit is sold. These practices have become more prevalent in recent years as supermarket consolidation and centralized buying requires fruit to travel farther in order to reach the store. As a result, purchasers are often offered fruit that is not ripe enough for their purposes or ready to eat.
Yet many fruit purchasers want to eat their fruit soon after they purchase it. And they want their fruit to taste the best that it can taste. To this end, they sometimes place their fruit in paper bags or in a ripening dome to ripen. Or they may ripen the fruit by keeping it in a warm place, exposed to the air.
Various attempts to address these problems can be seen in fruit holders: a Filio Fruit Tray by Mono Tabletop comprises a brushed 18/10 stainless steel sheet that has been bent into a wave profile; a Rosendahl stainless steel fruit dish comprises polished matte 18/08 stainless steel that has been bent into a curve profile with two rectangular legs that form two of its sides; a Lobo fruit bowl/bread basket comprises a square sheet of stainless steel having its sides elevated to form a receptacle having a gradual slope; Stacks and Stacks offers a banana tree/fruit bowl comprising an open chrome wire basket for storing fruit and an integral hook for suspending bananas; Stacks and Stacks also offers a fruit bowl made of natural wood having aluminum legs; and Gumps's of San Francisco offers a bowl made of an unwound coconut palm spathe having four legs.
Yet these fruit holders ignore an important principle of fruit ripening: exposure to concentrated ripening gas accelerates fruit ripening and improves fruit flavor. Fruit falls into two categories: 1) fruit that can continue the ripening process after harvesting and 2) fruit that cannot continue the ripening process after harvesting. Fruits that can continue ripening after harvesting are called climacteric fruits. They include many of the most popular fruits including apples, banana, pears, plums and peaches. After harvesting, these fruits continue to respire and naturally produce their own fruit ripening gas—ethylene.
Since at room temperature ripening gas accelerates fruit ripening and improves fruits flavor, it is desirable to retain such gas in a chamber along with fruit that needs to be ripened. If the chamber is appropriately ventilated, the fruit will continue to ripen, which in turn will generate more ripening gas. This creates a positive feedback loop of fruit ripening.
Yet each of the foregoing fruit holders lacks a chamber for retaining fruit ripening gas. They also only have one fruit-ripening environment. As a result, these fruit holders have at least the following disadvantages: they do not exceptionally accelerate fruit ripening, they only marginally improve the taste of the fruit, they do not accommodate variations in ripening rates of different fruits, and they do not readily allow the user to change the ripening rates for select fruit.
For over twenty years fruit holders with domed tops and chambers for retaining ripening gas have been described or offered: Hammacher-Schlemmer describes a “ripening bowl” comprising a clear dish with a clear bell-shaped top containing ventilation holes. According to Hammacher-Schlemmer, the “ripening bowl” is “specially designed with a domed lid that provides an ideal climate”; U.S. Des. Pat. No. 247,945, awarded to Saunders in 1978, shows a design for a ripening bowl with ventilation holes. The bowl has a convex bell-shaped top containing ventilation holes; the Koller-Craft division of Koller Enterprises, Inc. has manufactured a fruit holder with a domed top and chamber for retaining ripening gas. According to Koller-Craft, Inc. the design provides “proper” circulation; U.S. Des. Pat. No. 273,652, awarded to Lederman et al. in 1984, shows a design for a fruit ripener having a bottom with several ventilation holes and a dome top with one principal and several smaller ventilation holes; Japanese reference JP1085064 A, published Mar. 30, 1989, and assigned to Matushita Electric Works Ltd., describes containers with plastic domes, and plastic bags, for ripening fruits in which a ripening gas source is placed “in a case for housing fruits”; The University of California-Davis' March 1995 publication, PostHarvest Horticulture Series No. 8, recommends ripening fruit by placing it into a domed bowl made of clear molded plastic having ventilation holes around the top. Alternately, the publication recommends placing fruits in a paper bag to ripen them.
Yet these fruit holders featuring a “ripening dome” and a single support surface for ripening fruit have at least the following disadvantages: they do not accommodate variations in ripening rates of different fruits; they do not readily allow the user to change the ripening rates for select fruit; they do not substantially reduce bruising caused by stacking and rolling, and they do not always provide the best fruit flavor and hydration.
Various other apparatuses and materials have been described, although their inclusion in this Background is not an admission that they are prior art or analogous art with respect to the inventions disclosed herein. All references in this Background section, however, are hereby incorporated by reference as though fully set out herein, including the following references: U.S. Pat. No. 1,985,670, issued Jun. 16, 1934 to Sykes, describes “ripe fruit corrugated packing trays” designed for packaging and shipping ripe fruit; U.S. Pat. No. 3,069,274, issued Dec. 18, 1962 to Concannon, describes a protector and ripener for fruit, including a polyethylene foam cushion or wrapper impregnated with ethylene dichloride; European Patent Application No. 85303471.8, published Nov. 27, 1985, assigned to Russo et al., describes an apparatus and process for removing carbon dioxide from ripening rooms and “an ethylene injector,” including a “cylinder holder” for holding a pressurized ethylene gas cylinder suitable for discharging into ripening rooms (1,000 cu. Ft. to 20,000 cu. ft); Japanese reference, JP1094871, published Mar. 30, 1989 and assigned to Oishi Sangyo KK, describes ripe kiwi fruit “packaging trays” “consisting of a plurality of fruit receiving bowls.” The “packaging trays” may be “stacked” upon insertion of kiwi fruit that is fully ripe; U.S. Pat. No. 4,886,372, issued December 1989 to Greengrass et al., and EPO Application 0 282 180 A2, also to Greengrass et al., describe plastic material “containers, bags and encasements” with “micro-perforations,” used for produce; Japanese reference JP4210523, published Jul. 31, 1992, assigned to BOC Group PLC, describes a “foldable container” for storing or ripening agricultural products, and having a mechanism for “circulating specified atmosphere around the inside of the container”; U.S. Pat. No. 5,254,354, issued Oct. 19, 1993 to Stewart, describes food packages comprised of a polymer having thermally responsive permeability; U.S. Pat. No. 5,316,178, issued May 31, 1994 to Garber Jr., describes a fruit ripening system that comprises a fruit ripening ethylene gas storage and dispensing system and container; Perishables Handling Newletter, Issue No. 80, November 1994, discusses optimum procedures for ripening various types of fruit; U.S. Pat. No. 5,661,979, issued Sep. 7, 1997 to DeBoer, describes a domed, self-contained fruit storage apparatus and display device with refrigeration; Likewise, J/K Management Services has displayed an electric appliance comprising a bowl with a clear top. The appliance, marketed as the “Fruit Saver,” uses a microchip processor to circulate cool air around the fruit, reportedly to “extend the life of fresh fruit.”; U.S. Pat. No. 5,667,827, issued Sep. 16, 1997, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,711,978, issued Jan. 27, 1998, both to Breen et al., describe methods of packaging using an overwrapped “packing tray” with side holes; Japanese reference, JP11046677, published Feb. 23, 1999, assigned to T K Supply KK; Tatsuno Cork Kogyo KK, describes a “packaging container for vegetables and fruits, that is suitable for containing and transporting vegetables and fruits, particularly full-ripe vegetables and fruits.” It comprises “a container made of a synthetic resin foam,” a “lid” having an opening closed with “an oxygen permeable sheet material,” and an ethylene absorber; U.S. Pat. No. 5,916,614, issued Jun. 29, 1999 to Gorlich, describes “dual state” food packaging with a “tray having a peripheral flange adapted to receive a pair of membranes to enclose the tray”; U.S. Pat. No. 6,013,293, issued Jan. 11, 2000 to De Moor, describes “packaging of fruit and vegetables” using “an atmosphere-control member comprising a gas-permeable membrane and an apertured cover member over the membrane; Chinese reference CN1306748 A, published Aug. 8, 2001 and assigned to Yang Lan, describes a gaseous fruit and vegetable ripener that compresses ethylene gas into a seamless bottle having a depression-releasing mouth and a regulator; U.S. Pat. No. 6,548,132 B1, issued Apr. 15, 2003 to Clarke et al., describes “gas permeable membranes used in packaging fresh cut fruit and vegetables” and various ripening agents; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,376,032 B1, issued Apr. 23, 2003 to Clarke et al., describes “gas permeable membranes used in packaging fresh cut fruit and vegetables.” Finally, various publications of the University of California, Davis provide information on fruit ripening for particular types of fruits: Storing Fresh Fruits and Vegetables for Better Taste, Post Harvest Research and Information Center, Department of Pomology at UC Davis, published Jan. 10, 2000; Management of Fruit Ripening, published April 2003 by University of California Davis Post Harvest Research and Information Center; other publications include various Web site printouts: Ethylene Gas, from www.aboutproduce.com, printed Aug. 13, 2004; Mrs. Green's Produce Tips, from www.dennisgreenltd.com, printed Aug. 13, 2004; The Secrets of Fruit Ripening, from www.inra.fr, published June 2002, and printed Nov. 27, 2003; Fresh Tips by Michael Marks, from www.lamasbeauty.com, printed Aug. 13, 2004 and published July 2000; and Fruit Ripening, from www.planthpys.info, printed Nov. 27, 2003.
Like the other references and fruit holders described above, these references do not solve the need for improved fruit ripening displays.
Therefore, for all the foregoing reasons, there is a need for an apparatus and method for ripening and displaying fruit that can separately accommodate fruits with different ripening rates or levels of ripeness, permit the user to readily change the ripening rates for select pieces of fruit, and reduce bruising of the fruit. And there is a need to do all of this while accelerating fruit ripening and greatly improving fruit flavor and hydration.